1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods and compositions for the treatment of plants to reduce injury due to exposure to certain chemical stresses, and more particularly to the application of compositions to plants to minimize or prevent stress injuries. The present invention further relates to the treatment of plants which have been subjected to injury due to exposure to the identified stresses.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Plants are subject to exposure to a variety of chemical stresses, which can result from high salt concentrations resulting from brackish water, or from pesticides, herbicides and the like. A great variety of chemicals, including those to which plants are not normally exposed, or those in unusually high concentrations, can have a severe impact on the growth and productivity of plants.
It has been known for a long time that an excessive amount of chemical in the root environment reduces the growth of plants and results in low crop yield. The response to chemical concentration differs greatly among various plant species. One of the worst common chemicals affecting the growth of plants and low crop yield is NaCl. Stress resulting from exposure to NaCl substantially decreases the crop yield. It has been reported that water uptake in wheat and barley was substantially decreased by increasing salinity stress. However, whether the effect is on water deficits or on high internal electrolyte concentration is not yet known.
Of the 14 billion hectares of available land in the world, only one-fourth of it is potentially arable. Nearly 25% of this arable land is subject to salinity. Due to rapid urban development, matters are getting worse. Salt water is creeping into fresh water, and water reservoirs are becoming contaminated with chemicals and excess salt.
Techniques have been exploited in vitro to isolate salt tolerant plants and to probe the physiological mechanism of salt tolerance. A plant hormone, abscisic acid, has been reported to accelerate the growth of rice cells exposed to ionic salt, but not to water deficits elicited by non-ionic chemicals. None of the known prior art methods has been shown to be practical in alleviating stress of plants from excess ionic or nonionic salts. The purpose of this invention is to develop a chemical agent and method to alleviate injuries of plants exposed through foliage contact and root environment to stressful concentrations of chemicals.
It is desirable to treat plants to avoid any detrimental affects that would otherwise result under these circumstances. In order to be practically useful, a chemical composition used to treat plants against these stress injuries must be non-toxic to the plants, environmentally acceptable and relatively inexpensive. The present invention satisfies these requirements and provides for the protection of plants from chemical stresses of the types previously mentioned.